The Kindle Fire is supposedly selling at the rate of 25,000 devices per day. It’s supposedly selling more than all the other new Kindles combined.

The natural question that comes up is – Is Kindle Fire going to turn Kindle the eReader into an afterthought?

Customer Interest in Kindle Fire is overwhelming the official Kindle Forum

One data point supporting the claim that Kindle Fire sales are very strong is the amount of interest regarding the Kindle Fire at the official Kindle Forum –

The first page (at 1:39 am EST) had 6 threads about the Kindle Fire and just one about the eInk Kindles.

The second page had 8 threads about the Kindle Fire and 4 about the eInk Kindles.

The third page had 7 threads about the Kindle Fire and 3 about the eInk Kindles.

The fourth page had 5 threads about the Kindle Fire and 5 about the eInk Kindles.

The fifth page had 7 threads about the Kindle Fire and 2 about the eInk Kindles.

Across the first five pages there are 33 threads about the Kindle Fire and only 15 threads about all other Kindles combined.

Search and News is dominated by Kindle Fire

Take a look at this image to see just how dominant Kindle Fire is (in terms of search interest and news coverage) –

Search Interest in the various kindles

The Blue line represents Kindle Fire interest. The upper graph is for Internet Searches and the lower graph is for News Articles. You can take a look at it at Google Trends.

By the way, the other device that is getting a lot more attention than eInk Kindles (though much less than Kindle Fire) – Nook Color.

Analyst Estimates and Forecasts are all claiming Kindle Fire is selling more than all other Kindles combined

While estimates vary, the common thread is that all of them suggest that Amazon is currently selling a lot more Kindle Fires than Kindles.

There’s still the 10″ Kindle Fire

There are very strong rumors that a 10″ Kindle Fire Tablet will arrive early in 2012. And that too at a low, low price of $299.

If the 7″ Kindle by itself is selling more than eInk Kindles, it’s a safe bet to assume that the two Kindle Fire tablets together will dwarf the eInk Kindles in total sales.

Are people going to start associating ‘Kindle’ with the Tablets?

Probably.

If we have a lot more people buying Kindle Fire and a lot more people searching for Kindle Fire and a lot more people asking questions about Kindle Fire – ‘Kindle’ will start being associated with Kindle Fire.

Does all of this even matter?

Well, in a way, it doesn’t. If you’re Amazon you leverage the ‘Kindle’ brand and make it stronger and sell a ton of Tablets and now people can buy movies and games and music in addition to books.

In a way, it does. If you want a dedicated reading device that keeps improving and evolving, then you have to wonder about what happens if this trend continues – if Kindle Fire keeps outselling all other Kindles combined, if it becomes what people think of when they think ‘Kindle’.

Amazon has shifted from ‘eInk is better for reading than LCD’ to selling both eInk and LCD devices. The lines are getting blurred and we don’t really know what future it’s going to lead us to.

There is a possibility that we’ve finally gotten a Kindle Killer – it’s strange that it’s the Kindle Fire. The rest of 2011 is going to be very interesting and 2012 even more so. Barclays is very optimistic and thinks 23.5 million eInk Kindles will be sold in 2012 and that eInk Kindles will outsell Kindle Fire in 2012. However, user interest and search trends and news coverage are telling a very different story.